With so much in the news about job cuts and closures of well-known dot com companies, we at SearchtheWeb.com thought we would track these companies and Internet related sites and provide you with updated short news announcements on their status.
12/6/02
The music may be about to stop for Liquid Audio Inc. Bowing to the demands of two dissident shareholders who were elected to its board in September after a bitter proxy fight, the Redwood City, Calif., company said that it will distribute much of its cash to investors and pursue its dissolution while also seeking to sell its assets.12/6/02
Personal computer makers battling a two-year sales slump will furlough employees in cost-cutting moves. Gateway Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are requiring employees not directly involved with customer activities take five or more days off later this month.
12/5/02
Humana Inc., a managed-care provider, said it plans to cut about 2,300 jobs, or 17% of its work force, over the next year and consolidate seven customer-service centers into four.
12/5/02
America Online's CEO hinted at job cuts in the next two months as he detailed his turnaround plans to top executives.12/5/02
WorldCom, trying to emerge from its bankruptcy filing, will notify 3,000 employees their jobs are being eliminated as part of the company's cost-cutting plan, a spokeswoman said. The job reductions, mainly from technical support and sales operations, are part of the 17,000 positions WorldCom in June said it would slash. The cuts will come from offices across the United States.
12/4/02
Dupont Photomasks Inc. widened its fiscal second-quarter loss projections, as the company reveals plans to reduce its total work force by about 9% related to initiatives to cut costs and improve productivity. The maker of components used in the manufacture of semiconductors said it will cut about 140 employees when it consolidates its European operations and drop another 30 workers when it integrates some of its staff into a joint venture research and development center in Texas. The company currently has about 1,800 employees.
12/4/02
AmeriKing Inc., one of the largest Burger King hamburger-chain franchisees, filed for bankruptcy protection and said it is working on a restructuring plan that would exchange debt for equity in the company. The Westchester, Ill., company also said it is working with potential investors to secure funds for capital improvements, such as new drive-through systems, new signage and restaurant remodeling. As part of its restructuring plan, AmeriKing has closed 23 restaurants, leaving the company with 329, mostly in the Midwest.
12/4/02
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. said it would eliminate 8% of its work force, amid an escalating price war between the major tobacco companies and makers of bargain-basement cigarettes. R.J. Reynolds said it plans to eliminate 635 jobs, primarily during the first half of next year.
12/3/02
Instinet will cut its work force by about 300 employees, or 17%, as part of a cost-cutting plan that targets a $100 million reduction in annual operating expenses by the end of 2003.